Amongst the managerial intrigue at Celtic, last week’s big name, Roy Keane, has already been forgotten.
The former Ipswich and Sunderland boss seemed to be the hot favourite less than 7 days ago. Reports suggested that Keane had already met with Celtic’s hierarchy [Daily Mail]. It looked for all intents and purposes that Desmond had his man in the former Manchester United midfielder.
Keane, who won a title with Celtic, is a still a favourite for many supporters. His take-no-prisoners approach is the perfect antidote to the “softness” shown by certain players this season, they argue. However, his managerial pedigree and temperament have cast doubt on the ex-Ireland man coming to Celtic Park.
According to the BBC’s Chris McLaughlin, it was less likely than it looked.
McLaughlin said [BBC]:
“Celtic’s search for a successor to Lennon officially started when the Northern Irishman left in February – in reality it started well before and Howe’s name was always one the board kept coming back to.
“Roy Keane became a favourite at one point but my understanding is, that was never likely to happen. Celtic wanted a name, yes, but they wanted one with a track record in management and in Howe they have both.”
Panic over for a large section of the fans? Maybe not quite yet. Still, this is interesting analysis from a source close to the club.
Celtic manager hunt is by no means over, Roy Keane or no Roy Keane
We should perhaps temper our expectations a little. That’s rich, coming from someone who has written several articles on Eddie Howe today alone. It’s never a foregone conclusion with Celtic, though, and we need to be cognisant of that.
For example, in 2000, it looked like ex-Chelsea, Russia and Netherlands boss Guus Hiddink was on his way [Guardian]. Martin O’Neill came in, instead. Trebles and magnificent European runs followed, in what became a golden era for Celtic and the Scottish top-flight in general.
So let’s count precisely zero chickens.
There’s still a world in which Howe turns the job down, and so does Roy Keane. We just don’t truly know what Dermot Desmond, Kingmaker at Paradise, is thinking at this moment in time.
There’s concrete evidence an approach is being made, sure. But we won’t know until we know.
At least now it seems there’s clarity on how close Keane was to landing the Celtic gig.
Depending on your point of view, that’s a tragedy, or a massive relief.
READ MORE: Who will line up under John Kennedy against Falkirk tomorrow night?
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